“Fail Fast, Succeed Soon.” Sounds like a strange thing to say, but the more you think about the phrase, the more you realize that it’s a pretty productive mantra. Don’t get stuck working on an idea that doesn’t make sense if you can change it. This was the catchphrase of the Chicas Podersosas 2014 Miami event, a four day workshop that brought together smart men and women from across the globe.

They gathered to explore ways that technology can be used to create interactive storytelling – and to empower women. Led by visual storyteller Mariana Santos, a Knight International Journalism Fellow, stories were proposed, teams were chosen and goals were set.

Here’s a look at some of the projects that were created. None are “complete” – the goal was to demonstrate what you can build in a few days with mentorship and to develop the skills to then move these ideas forward. Where possible links to projects have been provided.

Here’s a look at some of the projects that were created. None are “complete” – the goal was to demonstrate what you can build in a few days with mentorship and to develop the skills to then move these ideas forward. Where possible links to projects have been provided.

Mapping Unmarked graves from the Drug War

“This is a story about drugs and where they end up,” said Andrés Lizcano Rodriguez, who proposed the idea.“Drug prices have gone up more than any other product in the last 20 years – apart from technology.”

This group used data to look at the deaths caused by the drug trade, the 20 million US consumers that have inadvertently caused the murder of 70,000 people in Mexico since 2006.. The group created a responsive website that mapped out this issue, including personal stories and statistics to back it up.

Exotic animal law across the USA

Did you know it’s legal to own a lion in South Dakota- but not a pig? No? The USA is home to some very interesting animal ownership laws and these were mapped out in a interactive map. The team also looked at the level of exotic animal incidents across the states, using data scraped from animal rights organization Born Free.

Gender Violence Hub

A lot of violence towards women occurs, and the Gender Violence hub aimed to visualize this to give comprehensive information on what is happening across the globe. “From doing this I discovered that there is so much violence towards women and so little documentation,” said Mariana Santos. “I want to keep exploring.”

The Colombian elections are coming up and meant people are concerned about transparency It can be confusing to know where the money goes. This is a visualization that aims to make this data clearer, using figures taken by the National Electoral Council CNE Claras accounts.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Character Mapping

The world suffered a loss with the passing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. To highlight the work of the man and pay tribute to his contribution to literature, one team chose to character map different figures from his literary works and show how they relate to the different stories.

Miami Dade County 311 Investigation

One team focused on local issues- mapping out 311 request in Miami Dade County to look at where hotspots for issues appear and visualize whether these get resolved.

The team was lead by Rebekah Monson, head of Code For Miami and they created an impressive interactive website that displayed a movable map, bar charts and a form for additional comments and reports.

SafePress

Security and privacy are paramount nowadays and this hot button topic was explored by the team who created Safepress, a conceptual encrypted communication software that would allow journalist to communicate with each other in private, in different countries – which all have separate legal issues. “We want you to understand the context of the country,” said journalist Anita Arriagada.